Where do they come from, who makes them, and what else is going on with license plates? I think we’ve all heard that they make them in prisons but, what’s the real story behind your license plate? This article provides a peak into the world of wunschkennzeichen.
First State-Issued License Plate
New York has been cited as being the first state to require vehicle plates to be mounted on cars as early as 1901. But, these were not state-issued. The first state-issued license plates for cards were from Massachusetts with the first one being issued to a man named Frederick Tudor in 1903. The first plate was appropriately numbered “1.”
That’s where it all began but, license plates are nowhere near finished as personalized plates become more and more popular and the license plate story continues.
Prison Plates
Are your tags really made in prisons by inmates toiling for hours with little pay in harsh, loud, dirty prison manufacturing plants? It turns out that for many years now, those sometimes plain, sometime beautiful plates of metal that we love to hate are computer generated by a private company for the DMV’s. The sheer volume of personalized plates and the desired to add a barcode to the plate has contributed to the move away from prison labor.
Checkout On Lane Two
Believe it or not, many newer tags come with a barcode located right on the front. Why is that UPC-like code emblazoned on the plate? It’s not so that when you go to DMV to buy your plates, they can scan them rapidly to speed-up your shopping experience like at the grocery store. No these little codes have a much more sinister purpose.
Police now have multiple types of devices with which they can use to scan your tags, either to read the characters themselves or to read the new barcodes. The readers are being put in place rapidly across the country by states and localities to help crack down on crime of all kinds.
Some of the information that police can glean from your barcode is very interesting. Basically the barcode is used as a lookup number in the police’s databases. In addition to finding the DMV vehicle ID, its description, and the owner’s name, the code can be cross-referenced with other databases and find any outstanding criminal warrants for the person, and if the vehicle has been reported as stolen. This is all just the beginning as more and more national databases are connected to the system.
This is all done using new laser readers called ALPR scanners either physically mounted on the police car or hidden alongside the road in various secret locations. These devices can either use the UPC code or can read the plate characters themselves depending on the device. Millions, if not billions of tag scans have already been added to the database from around the country. Without judging the technology and its civil liberties consequences, it does seem like it might cut down on stolen vehicles and help police catch criminals.
License Plate Collecting
If you’re like me you have a few (okay a few dozen) license tags lying around the garage that you are planning to make a collage from some day. Believe it or not, there are license plate collectors around the world. They belong to number plate hobby clubs the largest of which is called the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCS). Started in 1953, they offer support of all types to would-be collectors and fans alike around the world in all 50 states and 19 foreign countries.
Collectors scour junkyards, write to Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices around the United States and Canada, and even place ads all to feed their habit and find the most interesting and valuable plates.
There is even a collector’s magazine called “Regtransfers” that keeps them up to date on all license plate news while providing celebrity interviews, license plate articles, and buying/selling tips. The magazine is available from the NumberPlates website.
Most Expensive License Plates
If you’ve ever complained about the cost of your registration then this is for you. Lest you think collecting number plates is silly and for those with nothing better to do, think again. License tag collectors and others appear to be willing to pay large sums of money to get the plate they want. A wealthy Abu Dhabi man recently purchased from auction a number “1” plate from a collection of vanity plates. Saeed Khouri spent a mere $14 million to get the plate of his dreams and the auction itself garnered nearly $25 million during this benefit for a traffic accident rehabilitation center.
In the United States, we’re not nearly as extravagant when it comes to plate collecting. The most expensive plate ever purchased in the U.S. was a 1921 Alaska Territory plate which sold for $60 thousand in 2000 due to its rarity as purportedly one of only four remaining.
U.S. Supreme Court Rules On A Plate
We think of DMV’s and license tags as under the state’s purview because there is no federal licensing for our personal motor vehicles. However, there was one case about state-issued license plates that made it all the way to a ruling in the highest court in the land. The case stemmed from a New Hampshire resident named George Maynard who partially covered New Hampshire’s famous “Live Free or Die” motto mandated to be shown on all state personal vehicle tags. He covered the “or Die” portion because of his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. Maynard was later convicted under New Hampshire’s law (like many states have) against altering a state-issued motor vehicle tag.
The case was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled against the state saying in part that the interests of the states were secondary to an individuals’ right of free expression.
Support Your Cause
Some of the most popular personalized plates are statements of who we are and what we support. Almost every imaginable athletic team, college or university, military service or campaign, charity, heritage foundation, environmental action group, animal protection organization or wildlife groups, and city is now represented on a license plate. Some of them could even be called “beautiful.” The ALCPS which we already discussed named an Arkansas plate as the best license plate in the land for 2012. You can see it at the ALPCS organization website, ALPCS dot org.
For Fans Or Would-Be Fans
Wouldn’t it be great if there was one place to go to find all your state’s or any state’s license plate information with links to the actual state DMV? Now there is. We recommend the DMV organization website, DMV dot org for all this information and more.
I hope you enjoyed this look into the world of wunschkennzeichen. I think you can see that they aren’t just boring metal plates with some random numbers on them anymore.
